Hi Helen,
You might want to go to ALA this year and check out Video Roundtable's program (Sunday 2-4pm) which will cover about half of your inquiries and PLA's AV-101 (Saturday 1:30-3:30pm) program which will pretty much take care of the other half. National Media Market in September is another conference that is really helpful! Check these out and then hire a consultant.

Buffy: "See, this is a school. And we have students
and they check out books. And then they learn things."

(Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997)

>>> hpm0@lehigh.edu 03/12/04 09:43AM >>>
The libraries in the Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges (consisting of Lehigh University, Lafayette College, Moravian College, Muhlenberg College, Cedar Crest College, and DeSales University) are exploring the possibility of engaging a consultant to discuss the future of video collections at their institutions. Specifically, we are interested in understanding general trends in the managment of video collections, such as ... the extent to which libraries and media centers are actively converting VHS to DVDconventional wisdom on the durability and shelf life of the DVD formatemerging alternatives to physical ownershipresource sharing trends and opportunities, as well as campus circulation and use policiescopyright/licensing issues and trends relating to course use and incorporation into academic projects
Can anyone suggest an individual within shouting distance (or perhaps Internet2 teleconference distance) of east central Pennsylvania who might be interested in sharing ideas with us on this topic? Feel free to respond to me off-list if you like (hpm0@lehigh.edu or cmr0@lehigh.edu).Thanks very much!-- Helen P. Mack, Acquisitions LibrarianLehigh University Library30 Library DriveBethlehem, PA 18015-3067 USAPhone 610 758-3035 * Fax 610 758-5605E-mail hpm0@lehigh.edu